Shredded
by Shellii
Summary: Bella is a pro skater. Edward is lead guitar in a pop-rock band. What happens when they meet at a skate demo where she's skating and his band is hired as the live act? What's hiding in Bella's past? Canon pairings, all human. ON INDEFINATE HIATUS.
1. Shredded

Ever since I was 11 years old, I'd loved the feeling of having a skateboard beneath my feet. My mother Renee had been at me to take up a sport, something that didn't particularly interest me, so I'd been making excuses to get out of anything she suggested. Until one day when we headed down to the beach.

The beachside skate park was more crowded than I'd ever seen it, so we decided to see what all the fuss was about. A few pro skaters were in town, and they were shredding up the local spot, signing autographs and giving out free stuff as part of some sort of promotion. My mother quickly lost interest, but I was drawn to the sculpted concrete, and soon I was leaning against a metal railing looking down at a graffitied concrete bowl, watching every move the sweaty boys were making. It amazed me how much control they had over the planks of wood they manoeuvred on. I stood and stared for hours, after telling Renee to go on without me. I knew she wouldn't go into the water alone, but she could soak up the sun at least.

I was disappointed when the demo finished, and turned to leave, walking quickly and not looking where I was going. All of a sudden I ran right into something. A tall, sweaty, human something. I looked up into the face of one of the skaters I'd spent the afternoon watching, Dustin Dollin. I recognized him from posters and magazine covers, and I was momentarily too stunned to say or do anything. He grinned apologetically,

"Sorry dude" he said quickly, and did a double take. He looked me up and down, "Do you skate? "

For a moment I could only shake my head, but I managed to stutter "I w-was on m-m-my way t-to the bee-each."

My answer seemed to amuse him. "You're the girl who was standing by the railing all arvo eh?" He asked. I nodded, confused by his recognition. My confusion must have shown on my face, because his grin spread wider, and he explained "Sorry, we just don't get a lot of girls around this scene, so you caught my eye. Have you ever been on a board?"

I shook my head again, and he laughed and motioned for me to follow him. We weaved through the crowds past security to where the tour bus was parked. He ran inside and emerged with a skateboard. And so began one of the strangest experiences of my life... I was being given private skating lessons by a pro skater, and it was fun! I easily got my balance and started skating around, and Dustin jokingly suggested I should try an Ollie. I thought back through my memories...

_The kid next door. Jack? No Jake... Jacob... Isn't an Ollie the trick he was bragging about? Yeah. As soon as he could do it, he made sure she showed everyone in the neighbourhood... How did he do it?_

I strained to remember

"_It's easy really. You just pop the board with one foot, and slide the other one, and stomp down."_

_Pop, slide, stomp. He'd repeated the words over and over until everyone got sick of it._

I looked around. No one had noticed Dustin missing yet, so there was no attention on us. I took a deep breath and thought about those annoying words.

_Pop, slide, stomp._

I surprised myself when I became temporarily airborne, so much so that I missed my landing. The board shot away from beneath my feet, and I landed on my backside on the hard concrete. I looked up to see Dustin staring at me in amazement.

"How did you DO that?! Are you sure you've never skated? Little dudette that was sick as!" His smile was the biggest I'd seen it, and I smiled back. He hi-fived me, and I heard my name being called. I looked across to see that my mother had come looking for me.

"I have to go", I said starting to hand the skateboard back to him, "thank-you, this was cool"

But he refused "keep it. You're a natural" He smiled again, and my mother's calling started to gain a frantic edge. I waved goodbye, and ran towards my mother's voice, with Dustin's words echoing in my mind "_You're a natural"_

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**Okay, this is only my first fanfic. Let me know if you want me to continue, or get lost (: Incase you were wondering, Edward will be introduced in the next chapter, and Jacob in the one after. (:**


	2. Misery Business

**EPOV**

I looked out across the crowd. Every face looked the same to me. I hated festivals like these. It was the middle of summer and we were playing on the main stage at a festival. Half the people in the crowd were probably only here because we'd reached number one a few weeks ago, automatically making us cool to listen to. Not that you could even hear us properly; there was a skate comp in full swing, and we were almost drowned out by the dim-witted fans and the overpaid guy commentating. I'd lost my earplugs earlier in the set, so my ears were a blur with different noises

_But I got him where I want him now  
Whoa, it was never my intention to brag  
to steal it all away from you now..._

Rosalie's voice was mixed in with the sound of our instruments, and I tried to focus on nothing but that, but it was impossible to drown out the sound of the fans in front of us. There was a girl holding up a huge sign "MARRY ME EDWARD". I looked at her, she was pretty, but so were a lot of girls here. In any case, I was distracted from her by the annoying voice of the Skating commentator

"He's in the air, can he do it? People we are seeing HISTORY IN THE MAKING! JACOB BLACK HAS JUST DONE FOUR ROTATIONS IN THE AIR. THAT IS 1440 DEGREES! THIS IS…"

I tuned out then. I didn't care about skateboarding. I almost wished It was still hard to play guitar, at least then I'd be forced to focus , but I'd practiced so much that my fingers could brush across the fret board almost with me consciously thinking about it. We finished the song and launched straight into another.

_I got a lot to say to you  
Yeah, I got a lot to say  
I noticed your eyes are always glued to me  
Keeping them here  
And it makes no sense at all_

I had to concentrate for a little while, but all too soon my fingers were walking automatically, and my mind was free to wonder. I scanned the crowd again, in the vain hope something might have changed... And it had... A dark haired girl was standing on the outer fringe of the crowd, swaying gently to the music. Her hair was a gorgeous mahogany, but tied back out of her face, revealing her pale skin, and brown eyes, brown eyes that were looking my way. All of a sudden she looked around, in response I assumed to someone calling her name. She looked back at me once more- blushing when she noticed my stare- and turned and ran towards the temporary skate park. I watched her until she went out of sight, and I smiled.

BPOV

"Bella! Bella you've got to get back over there you're up in 2 minutes! Bella!"

I turned to see Leah calling me. I must've lost track of time. I'd wandered over to the main stage to see who was playing the catchy music that was blaring, but I hadn't gone past the fringe of the crowd. The band members were all shockingly beautiful, my eyes travelled over the blonde girl at the front of the stage. She was belting out an angry sounding song, and a few of the lyrics caught my attention;

_I waited eight long months,_

_She finally set him free..._

I laughed at the idea of this girl ever having to wait for anything. She was the goddess Athena in the flesh, a reincarnation of Helen of Troy: she was the most beautiful woman on earth. Standing behind her and to the right was another blonde, a boy who looked like he could be the girl's brother. He was tall and muscular, playing the bass guitar and jumping around- A definite crowd pleaser. At the back of the stage sat a dark haired boy wearing a grin, surrounded by drums. He reminded me a lot of my friend Jacob, even sitting I could tell he was tall, and his body bulged with muscles, although this boy had very pale skin, in contrast with Jacobs russet colour. Finally, as they started a new song, my eyes settled on the last member of the group, a bronze haired boy. His expression was pained, like he was doing something he despised as he looked down at his guitar, seemingly concentrating quite hard. After a few seconds, he looked up and scanned the crowd, until his eyes came to rest on my face. I was too startled at being caught staring to even blush, instead I just kept staring. Even from so far away, I could see his eyes were a bright green, and they bored right into mine. I don't know how long I stood there, but all too soon Leah was calling me. I turned to tell her I was coming, before turning to catch another glimpse of the perfect bronze haired boy. Now he was staring at me, and I felt my face colour bright red. I turned and ran towards the park; I had some skating to do.


	3. Complications

**I don't own Twilight. I just dream about it.**

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EPOV

I spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about the girl I'd seen. She looked so perfect, so beautiful, but also so natural. I planned to try and find her after the show.. It was a long shot, but I felt I needed to talk to her. As soon as we finished the last song I was running off the stage, thinking about the best place to try and find her. I ran out into the grounds, looking everywhere, so frantic that i didn't notice anyone else around... But they noticed me...

"OH MY GOD! EDWARD CULLEN!", a fan had launched herself in my path, surprising me, and knocking me to the ground. I struggled up- struggled because she was on top of me and slightly overweight- and ran on. It wasn't long before there was a gaggle of screaming girls running at me, and I was forced to abandon my search and run towards safety. I made it to our backstage area without anymore unpleasant encounters, and tried to regroup my thoughts. Obviously searching on foot was out of the question, and i was getting incredibly worried. What if she'd left? Maybe she was going home when she got called? Before I could come up with another plan, Alice, our sound tech and designer came over to remind me that i had a meeting to get to. When we say meeting, we don't mean a serious, sit down and discuss matters kind of thing, we were being introduced to the skaters from the festival. I wasn't excited, but apparently it was important we all knew each other, as we'd be on the road together for the next few months. I walked to my trailer to get out of my sweaty clothes, and changed into a pair of grey jeans, and a striped button-up shirt. I looked in the mirror quickly, and walked out to meet the others. Emmett, my best friend since high school, and the drummer of our band was standing with Jasper- his girlfriend's twin- who was the bass player.

"Where are Alice and Rose?" I asked.

My bandmates rolled their eyes "Hair".

I should've known that they'd want to redo their hair, but I was annoyed. Alice could've come get me once she was ready. We stood waiting for another 15 minutes, Jasper and Emmett making conversation with the occasional input from myself. Eventually we were all ready, and we walked together to a tent that'd been set up for this exact purpose. We arrived right on time, and i was unsurprised to find that the skaters hadn't shown up yet.

We all took seats , and Alice and Rosalie lauched into a conversation about the line-up for the next show. I groaned internally. It was never fun when they changed it, We always ended up with heaps of tech problems. Jasper and Emmett pointed this out, and they started arguing. I sighed and slouched back on the lounge i was on, trying to figure out what to do about the mystery girl. I sat up when I heard voices coming from outside, and told the others that someone was coming. The voices got louder and suddenly a tall dark skinned boy shot into the tent, followed by two or three others. The boy was huge, man might've been a better description, but i was completely distracted by the girl on his back.

There she was, her perfect face flushed pink, laughing loudly. I was confused... Why was she here? I watched her as she slid from the boys back, and he turned to kiss her on the forehead. She giggled, and realisation dawned on me. She was _with _him. I don't know why I hadn't thought about this complication before. She was absolutely stunning, of course she'd have a boyfriend. I wanted to slap myself. I felt the couch cushion sink to my left and I looked up to see the girl sitting there.

"Hey" she smiled. "I'm Bella, you guys sounded really good today"

Bella. The name suited her well; she was beautiful. I was so busy staring at her, that I forgot to say anything. She started to look awkward,

"um.. should I go?" She looked like she was about to get up

"No, sorry. Hello" I returned the smile "I'm Edward. It's nice to meet you." I extended my hand to shake hers. She took it but laughed. "What did i do?"

She laughed again "It just seems so formal. And well... We don't usually observe a lot of formalities."

This time i laughed as well, though I'm not exactly sure why. From then on our conversation was fast paced, but interesting. Her laugh was contagious, and she was easy to talk to, and I found myself wishing that I could sit and talk to her forever, but a glance at her boyfriend told me that wasn't going to happen.

"I don't think your boyfriend likes me" I said, trying to make it sound offhand. She looked confused.

"Boyfriend? What are you talking about?" She followed my gaze to where Jacob sat, talking to Emmett, and snorted. "Jacob's not my boyfriend"

Now I was confused again. "Then why are you here?" I didn't realise until after the words had left my mouth how rude I sounded.

"What do you mean by that?" She seemed slightly annoyed.

"I'm sorry for being rude... I'm not familiar with the skate scene... I just thought you were here with him... What do you do?"

Now she glared at me. "What's that supposed to mean? I'm a girl so I must only be here because I'm sleeping with one of the team?" She was yelling now, "It's so nice to know that you look at me and see a bit on the side!"

Now i was more confused than ever, partly as to why she was her, and partly as to her reaction.

"I'm a PRO SKATER you jerk! I'm here because I'm part of the team! What do you think I was doing all day? Slutting around with every guy I could get my hands on?"

I was relieved and worried at the same time. She was single, which was good news for me... well it had been 5 minutes ago. I'd probably just ruined my chance. "I hope you trip over your guitar lead tomorrow and fall flat on your face!" She screamed before storming outside. I noticed Emmett, Jasper and Jacob smiling, Emmett and Jasper probably because I'd just been served, and Jacob because from the way he acted, he wanted Bella for his own. Alice, Rosalie, and rest of the skate team just looked worried. Alice rose from her seat to stalk over to me.

"What did you do to that girl!" she hissed.

"I'm not really sure... I think I offended her" i explained, trying to keep the desperation i felt from showing on my face. I obviously didn't do a very good job. Alice hugged me,

"Go after her. Try and apologise. You both seemed to be getting along so well." She smiled, and I attempted to smile back, standing up and walking out of the tent after Bella.

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**Ooooooh a bit of a cliffhanger! Is Bella gonna forgive him? Or will she ignore him for the rest of the trip? I guess you'll have to wait till tomorrow to find out (:**

**Thanks for your reviews! It's so amazing to know people are liking this, so please keep them coming. I'm not going to with-hold the story if I don't get them, because I hate when people do that, but they do give me the motivation I need. This is my longest chapter so far! I hope the story's not going too slow. I'll try and update every night, as I have been, but I cant make any guaruntees. Year twelve is hard!**

**Ciao readers (:**

**Shellii**


	4. Kiss Me

**I don't own Twilight. I don't own Dustin Dollin. I do however own 18 frames of the Twilight movie. Working at a cinema is AWESOME!**

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BPOV

Edward found me sitting at the top of the vert ramp, my feet hanging down.

"Hi" he said simply. I didn't say anything, so he continued, "Look I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to offend you, I didn't know, I'm sorry." He sounded sincere, and I knew I'd over-reacted, but still I remained silent. "I'll go then", he whispered, and I looked up to see his beautiful green eyes on me. Even in the darkness I could see the sorrow. He started to turn,

"Don't leave" I said, barely louder than a whisper. He turned back to me, and his eyes were different. Was that hope? "Come sit by me?" I asked. He closed the distance between us in two steps, and sat beside me, making sure he kept about a foot between us. Why was I longing for him to sit closer? "I'm sorry I over-reacted back there."

"No, I was rude, you had every ri-"

I cut him off. "It was just a misunderstanding. I shouldn't have gotten so angry at you. Would you like me to explain?"

He looked down before answering, "Only if you want to. You don't have to..."

I cleared my throat. "Skating is a pretty male dominated sport. It's really hard to get sponsored as a female... I mean I have to skate perfectly all the time. I can't have an off day. Everything I do has to be beyond awesome. It's really difficult being taken seriously. Usually the only girls at a skate comp are skanky fans who wanna sleep with a star, or the actual skater's girlfriends. I've been mistaken for a bimbo groupie so many times it's not funny. Even just today, three people did. I guess that's why I got so angry at you. I'd had enough for today." I said this all really fast, so I wasn't sure how much of it had gotten through. I sat silently, staring at my knees.

"I'm sorry", he said breaking the silence.

I looked up at him, and got lost in his eyes. I tried to remember what I was going to say. Eventually I managed to get out "You already said that."

He smiled, and my heart spluttered. Why was my heart spluttering? I only just met this guy! We sat there for a few minutes, neither of us knowing what to say. It was him who decided to bring the silence to a close

"How do monsters like their eggs?"

"What?" I was surprised by the spontaneity.

He repeated, "How do monsters like their eggs?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "I don't know. How do monsters like their eggs?"

His smile grew wider as he spoke the answer, "TerriFRIED!"

I tried to contain myself, but I couldn't help collapsing into a fit of giggles. He laughed along, and when we'd calmed down, we continued our conversation from before. "So you're a skater?" He probed, "What's it like?"

I talked about how I'd gotten into skating, meeting and befriending Jacob at the skate park, where we were both discovered by talent scouts. I told him about Dustin Dollin, who'd become like a mentor to me after retiring from skating. I tried to explain the freedom and power I felt being on my skateboard, but it was hard to put it into words. I searched for a way to convey the message correctly. "It's like. Hmm. Well... Right now I'm just a normal girl. I can walk down the street, and I'm absolutely boring. But-"

"No you're not" Edward interrupted. I looked at him questioningly. "You could never be boring" he whispered softly, and his cheeks coloured slightly, though it was nothing compared to the heat I could feel across my face. His eyes bored into mine, and I forgot everything. I realised I was leaning towards him, and he was mirroring my actions. I didn't have time to think of what I was doing before his lips crushed against mine. Everything about the kiss was perfect, my lips shaped themselves around his, and as his scent swirled around me I tasted his sweet lips. I didn't want to break the kiss, but my lungs were desperate for air. I smiled at him and he smiled back.

"We... We should probably get back... They might be worried..." I said this all very quickly as I started to stand.

"Wait... Will we see each other again?"

I couldn't help but giggle. "We're on tour together for three months."

"You know what I mean" he said softly.

I knelt down to where he was still sitting and kissed him again.

"I'll take that as a yes?"

I nodded, and started walking back toward the tent. He caught up with me, and took my hand. I smiled, and he did too. We made small talk on our way back, and before I knew it we were there. He parted the flaps for me just as he finished the punch line for another bad joke,

"And the blonde driver is says to the blonde passenger 'If I could swim, I'd get out there and punch her!'"

I laughed loudly, and for a moment I didn't realise how silent everyone was. I looked around, and saw every eye on us. Jacob was staring hard at my hand in Edwards, hate visible in his eyes, as was Alice, but her eyes shone with excitement. I slipped my hand out of Edwards and walked across to Jacob before he could do anything. I stopped in front of him, and he looked at me, but now his eyes showed signs of hurt. I mentally kicked myself for not thinking. Jacob had had feelings for me for almost as long as he'd known me.

"Jake" I started, but he silenced me.

"I think we need to talk Bella. Privately." He shot a glare at Edward, and walked out of the tent. I sighed and started to follow, but someone caught me by the wrist. I turned to see Edward looking worried.

"Don't worry" I told him smiling. "I'll talk to you tomorrow ok".

He gave my hand a squeeze, and dropped it. I waved to everyone else, and ran to catch up with Jacob. I knew he'd want a pretty impressive explanation, and I wanted to talk to him as soon as possible, before he could get too worked up. He must've been running too, because he was at his trailer and waiting when I caught up. He was sitting on the stair, his head in his hands. He looked up when he heard me approach. It was hard to tell in the darkness, but it looked like he'd been crying.

"Why Bella?"

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**Okay guys, hopefully this chapter explains Bella's reaction. If you're still unhappy.. Well I'm not forcing you to read it. The summary of this story says ExB, so they're definately going to end up together, but it's not going to happen straight away. Where's the excitement in that? As someone observed, Bella is a very independent girl... Lets see how that works out with Edward's very protective nature?**

**(: Shellii.**


	5. I'll Be

**I don't own Twilight. I don't own any of these characters. I'm just completely obsessed with them.**

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EPOV

I watched Bella hurry out of the tent after Jacob, and then turned to see that all eyes were still on me. I walked over to the same couch as before and sat down, and everyone went back to their conversations. Well, almost everyone. Alice danced over to me, curiosity burning behind her green eyes.

"Edward! You've been holding out on me! When did you meet her? She's gorgeous!"

"Alice, calm down. I only met her tonight"

Alice looked confused, and I could tell that if I didn't want to get yelled at again I'd better explain.

"Today, when we were playing... I saw her. In the crowd. And I knew I had to find her. That's where I ran off to this afternoon! I was looking for her, but there were... Complications."

Alice nodded in understanding, and prompted me to continue.

"When I saw her tonight, it was like nothing else mattered. And then I thought she was with Jacob, and that made her angry, as you saw, but then we sat and talked, and she forgave my foolishness, and I kissed her. And the-"

"YOU WHAT?"

Oh god. I'd made her angry.

"Edward Anthony Cullen!"

I put up my hands to quiet her "Alice listen!"

Alice reluctantly close her mouth, but her eyes shot daggers at me.

"And she kissed me back. And she smiled. And alice it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen! And then she thought we should get back in case people were worried, and I held her hand. I wasn't sure if I should, but she smiled so i thought it was ok, and then we were here."

Our whole conversation apart from Alice's outburst had been whispered, and once again everyone was staring. One of the other skaters stood up. "I think this meeting's over." He stalked out of the tent, and the remaining two skaters started to follow. Neither of them seemed to notice the tension in the air "I'll see you around Emmett!" called one as he left.

"Yeah, you too Seth!" Emmett called after him. He turned to us "Man these guys are cool. That Jake kid looks like he could handle an arm wrestle!" He laughed, and everyone smiled. Emmett looked very intimidating, but he was probably the biggest softie I'd ever met. He held his hand out to his girlfriend rose, who took it, and he pulled her towards him. Rosalie and Emmett were not afraid of public displays of affection. I threw a cushion at them, hitting Emmett in the back of the head.

"Get a room" Jasper growled. He had a good reason to be irritated. After all, Rosalie was his sister.

"Sorry Jazz" Emmett smiled. "C'mon Rose, lets go." They left together, laughing at something Emmett had muttered under his breath.

Alice smiled at me, then her and jasper joined hands and left as well, not before she mouthed the words _"go for it"_

I stayed in there for a while, thinking. After a while I looked at my watch. It read 2:01. Probably time to get some sleep. I stood and started walking towards my trailer. I let my mind wander, not for the first time, back to the kiss from earlier. Bella's lips were so sweet, her scent intoxicating. I was pulled out of my reverie by the sound of someone crying. I followed the sound to the skate park. At first i could see nothing, and I almost walked away, but a small movement. I walked towards it, and found Bella curled up on the concrete inside the bowl. As soon as I recognised her, I rushed to her side. Gathering her up in my arms, I asked what had happened.

"Jake was s-s-so upset. And an-angry. He w-was yelling. I bet-bet-betrayed him. I'm h-horrible. I-"

"shhhh" I cut her off. "It's ok. I'm here now, it's ok. Don't cry"

She looked up at me, her deep brown eyes still overflowing with tears. "I'm s-sorry."

"Don't say that Bella." I noticed how cold her skin felt. "You're freezing!" I looked at her properly now, and noticed that she hadn't put on her coat. I shrugged mine off, and wrapped it around her.

She thanked me, and i picked her up, and carried her to my trailer. It felt quite ungentlemanly, but I didn't know where hers was, and I couldn't bear to ask the girl who was still silently sobbing into my chest. I sat her on the bed, and I took a seat beside her, keeping my arms around her. After a while, she calmed down, and started nodding off. I helped her under the covers, and sat until I was sure she was asleep.

I stood and started to walk towards the lounge, but before I'd taken three steps I heard my name. I turned, thinking she'd woken up, but her eyes were still closed. For a moment I thought I'd been hearing things, but her lips turned into a smile, and she said my name again. I considered staying to watch her sleep, but decided that was just a bit too creepy. I laid down on the lounge, and tried to sleep. A glance at the clock told me it was 4.32, and I was glad that we'd be spending the next two days doing nothing but travelling. I drifted off to sleep, dreaming of Bella. I was woken by a heavy pounding on my door. I jumped up and hurried over to it. I didn't want whoever it was to wake Bella.

I opened the door to Jacob, who immediately stepped inside. "Where is she?" he growled. I realised he meant Bella, and glared at him.

"She's asleep. I found her last night, crying because you yelled at her. I didn't know where her trailer was, so I put her to bed up there. Please keep your voice down, she's still asleep."

Jacob glared back at me. "Let me see her. Now."

"No. I won't let you hurt her again."

"Let me see her RIGHT NOW! OR I SWEAR I'LL-"

"Jake..."

The both of us turned to see Bella standing at the doorway to the bedroom part of my trailer.

"I worried when you didn't come back last night. I'm sorry I yelled at you Bells." He shot me another glare." I'm sorry you had to stay here."

"Jake stop it. I'm fine. It's ok. Go back to our trailers, I'll be there soon."

He shot me one more look before he turned and stomped out.

"Sorry Edward. I wasn't in very good shape last night. I shouldn't have burdened you with it. You're probably really annoyed now. I'm really sorry."

I put a finger to her lips, and smiled." It's ok. I'm sorry about your accommodations, I didn't know where your trailer was, and you looked like you needed a sleep."

She nodded. "Thanks. I have to go. I'll see you later ok?"

My face fell. "Yeah, see you later." She walked toward the door, and I took a seat on the lounge, looking at my feet. I'd stuffed it up. She didn't like me. She probably liked Jacob. Guess she didn't wanna hurt my feelings. The lounge sunk next to me, and I looked up to see Bella hadn't left. She kissed me on the cheek.

"I will see you later" she said before getting back up and walking out the door.

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**Okay, I'm not sure if I like this chapter. I'm considering comletely re-writing it, what do you guys think? I'm going to try and be nicer to Jacob, because I really do love him, but he keeps getting in Bella and Edwards way! And I am sooo well aware Edward's jokes are terrible, but the idea is that they're SO BAD that they're Hilarious! And besides, Edward's pretty old fashioned. (:**

**Please let me know what you think. The more feedback I get the more I'll be inspired to write (:**

**Ciao, Shellii**


	6. SkateVideos&HotelRoomTrailers

I stared out the window at the cars around us. I hated travelling by tour bus at times like these. It gets so boring. I was in Jake's, and he Sam, Embry and Seth were playing some random video game that didn't hold any attraction at all for me. Even if it did, there were only 4 controllers. My mood lifted when I realised we were stopping for gas,

"Yo. We're stopping. Time to shred the gnar"

Jake looked up at me quickly and smiled.

"Not before we finish this"

I rolled my eyes, but the effect was lost as all their eyes were on the screen. As we came to a stop I stood up and stretched a little. Then I grabbed my board and bounded outside to the wooden vert ramp we were towing behind us. It'd been Jake's idea- If we were ever stranded anywhere, we could still shred it up. I climbed to the top, and looked around. There weren't many people, so I thought I'd try out some stuff I was still working on. I dropped in, and everything else dropped away. I loved that about skating, the way it took me away from the world and made me feel so calm. I spent a little while just pumping up and down, then I started doing a few rock and rolls, and axle stalls. Nothing complex, just really basic stuff to get me right into the zone. I decided to chuck in an Indy Grab, when I heard my name called suddenly "BELLA!"

I wasn't expecting such an urgent call, and the surprise broke my concentration and sent me sliding down the ramp on my knees. I looked up at the sound of someone climbing onto the ramp, and saw Edward, his face a mask of worry and annoyance.

"Bella what are you doing?"

I was confused. I thought it was pretty obvious what I was doing "Skating Edward. What does it look like I was doing?" I didn't bother concealing the hostility in my tone

He looked taken aback for a while. "Out here? Where's Jake? Shouldn't he be here too? And the other guys? You could've been hurt"

I rolled my eyes. "Edward, I'm a big girl, I've been skating almost seven years! I don't need Jake or anyone else here to watch me do a few simple little tricks! If you hadn't scared me, I'd still be skating!"

Edward looked a little hurt, and my annoyance at him was fading. "Look Edward, I know you were just trying to look out for me, but you don't need to. I'm a pro skater, it's my job and I love it. I know it's dangerous, but so are a lot of things!"

Edward sighed. "I'm sorry Bella. I just saw you here all alone, and it didn't seem safe."

We sat in silence for a few minutes, until I started laughing.

"What's so funny?"

I smiled at him before answering "I haven't muffed up an Indy Grab since I was like 13. You're the dangerous one here"

He laughed, and grabbed me around the waist, pulling me closer to him. "I'll give you dangerous" he growled playfully, before he started tickling me. We stayed there playing and giggling for another 15 minutes, before a deep voice interrupted us

"Get a room"

We both looked up to see Emmett and Rosalie standing on the ground next to the ramp, with huge smiles on their faces.

"Yeah like you can talk" Edward retorted, and we all laughed again.

"But no, seriously, get a room. We're about to start moving" Rosalie sang before walking off with Emmett. Yeah, she sang it. It seemed every single word that came out of her mouth was sung. And she was so incredibly beautiful. It never ceased to amaze me. I was interrupted from obsessing over Rosalie's perfect features by Edward

"Hey do you want to come hang with us for the next leg? Just Alice, Jasper and I?"

I nodded quickly, and ran to tell Jake where I'd be. He wasn't happy, but he couldn't do anything, so I ran back to find Edward leaning against the ramp, looking perfect as always.

"Let's go" he said, and taking my hand we ran over to a tour bus. He said it was Alice and Jasper's, so it was the most comfortable. I didn't understand what he meant until I stepped inside. The whole interior was ultra modern and spacious. It felt more like a hotel room than a trailer. There was a blur of brown, and I felt myself pulled into a hug. It took a moment for me to realise it was Alice, but when I did I hugged her back.

She pulled back and started talking animatedly "hey Bella. I'm Alice, sorry we didn't get to talk much last night, I didn't want to interrupt your conversation with Edward. I was watching some of your videos after the meeting last night. You're so good! I mean I don't know much about skateboarding, but it was amazing. I tried googling it, but it's hard to find good results. Skateboarding that is. Can you teach me? I mean I know I wouldn't be as good, but it looks so fun!"

I laughed. "Um. Yeah. Sure"

That was all it took for Alice to launch herself into the conversation again, and she dragged me to where she had her laptop and some magazines and books sitting. Edward gave me an apologetic look, but I just smiled at him. I could feel that Alice and I were going to get along really well.


	7. Use a Baseball Bat or a Crowbar, Okay?

**Sorry for the delay in updates. Holidays are stressful! **

**They're all Miss Meyer's. -cries-  
**

* * *

I edged around the corner, and lined him up in my sights. My finger was on the trigger, and I paused for a second. Bad idea. His movements mirrored mine, except he didn't pause. I pulled the trigger a second too late.

"YEAH! HEADSHOT"

I glared at Seth "Dude I let you win. You saw me pause"

Seth laughed "Oh yeah. You let me. Uhuh. Since when are you the type of guy who lets anyone win?"

"Shutup Seth."

He obliged, but still wore a smug look on his face, his eyes glittering in excitement.

I sighed. We'd been on the road just over three weeks, and I'd barely seen Bella Since our first show. She was always with him nowadays. Guess now that she's finally found herself a pretty boy she doesn't need me anymore. I immediately felt guilty after that. She still talked to us, but she'd made friends with the girls in that stupid band, and they took up more of her time than he did. I sighed again, thinking about the album I had on my iPod. Forks was really an awesome band. I'd liked their first album, hell I was pretty excited when I found out they were touring with us. But then _he_ was there, taking her further away from me.

If it weren't for his developing relationship with Bella, I'd probably like Edward, but instead I resented him. I was waiting for him to screw up really badly, and I had a good feeling he would. He pissed her off a lot with his constant worrying, which was really stupid of him, but awesome for me. I had a healthy regard for Bella's safety, but if she wanted to take risks I let her. Edward didn't like risks. He watched her carefully when she skated, and never seemed to be relaxed while she had the board beneath her feet. Stupid I repeated in my head, Bella was a little trooper. She'd had her fair share of breaks and sprains, but her last major injury was years ago, so he really needn't worry. But he did. I sniggered softly at the irony: He was so overprotective and careful, whereas Bella was risky, random, and full of life.

Thinking about the two of them made me angry, so I grabbed my board and headed outside. We were leaving in the morning, so I reasoned that I probably needed to get a few hours in now. We were near a stadium, and there was loads of concrete, rails and stairs, so I decided to take a break from the structured courses and do something more fun. I found a good spot with a 12 set and plenty of room to build up speed... and the room to slow down too. I wasn't in the mood for anything special, so I practiced some nosegrinds- I'd been getting sloppy, and I needed to lift my game. I didn't even bother to look up when I heard another skateboard approach. It was probably just Seth, so I called "Go away Seth. I'll play you later" Seth stopped not far from me, and I waited to hear the sound of retreat, but it was absent. I looked up to see Bella smiling tentatively.

"Um hey. Sorry we haven't had much time lately, Alice is really.. well.. She's unique in any case" She said, giggling at the last bit.

The sound of her melodic laugh made me crack a smile. "No big Bells, it's cool. I mean this is like the first girl time you've had in like... Ever" I finished lamely. She looked like she was about to protest, but instead she just shrugged.

"That's true."

There seemed to be a tone of sadness in her voice, and I knew why. Her mum had died of cancer when Bella was 12, and with her dad in prison, she'd moved in with my family. Her mum had been close to my dad Billy for as long as I remember, he was even her godfather. Bella didn't really have any girl friends all through high-school. I guess without a mother to guide her, she missed out on all the girly stuff that she had yet to learn. This didn't affect her popularity with the guys though. She hung out with my friends and I during lunch, and some classes, even though she was 2 years younger than me. Bella was absolutely brilliant, and so had been placed in an accelerated learning program. When it came to prom time, Bella had always been the envy of every other girl.

She was friends with most of the male population, oblivious to the fact that most of them wanted way more than friendship, myself included. She was aware of the girls who paid me attention, and she constantly encouraged me to go out and have fun, but I refused. Thinking about it that might've been part of the reason Bella had no female friends- they were all too busy hating her, and harbouring jealous feelings. Not that any of that mattered, we always ended up going together.

"Hey where's my loud happy Jake gone?" Bella called, snapping me out of my reverie. I smiled

"He's still here Bells. Along with the Jake who loves to tickle people!" I said, closing the space between us in a few short steps and scooping her up in my arms. She squirmed and giggled.

"Jake stop" she squealed as she wriggled. I laughed with her, but didn't put her down. She moved her body suddenly, and I fell to the ground, with her on top of me. Something at the top of the stairs caught my eye, and I saw Edward standing, staring at us. I released her from my grip, and sat her on my lap, thinking he'd seen me look at him, but he hadn't moved. He was staring, transfixed at the giggling girl in my arms, and it struck me I could use this to my advantage, play on his insecurities a bit. She calmed down, but she was still grinning when she started talking, "So I hear you got owned by Seth. Guess you're no longer the king of halo"

I growled, and she launched into a new round of giggles.

"I'd still kick your butt Bells"

She tried to stop laughing long enough to retort, but I wasn't having that. I began tickling her again, and her tinkering laugh got louder. He'd be able to hear very clearly how happy she was here in my arms. She squealed in delight, and squirmed around in my arms as I laughed along with her, although I was laughing in part at something very different. I stopped tickling her and kissed her forehead, closing my eyes as she continued to laugh. I swear it had to be the most amazing sound n the world, so I was annoyed when it started to abate. I opened my eyes and studied her flushed face, my annoyance turning to worry as I detected the sadness in her deep brown eyes.

"Bella what's wrong?"

She smiled, a half-hearted smile that didn't reach her eyes, "I'm fine Jake"

"Bella, what's wrong?" I repeated. "And don't say nothing, you're a terrible liar.

She sighed, and was about to say something, but she stiffened suddenly, her gaze locked on something. I followed the direction she was looking, and saw Edward standing at the top of the stairs.

BPOV

"Edward? H-How long've you been standing there? Edward?"

His face showed anger "Not long" he spat, and I recoiled from his words as if he'd slapped me. His expression changed to one of sadness. He started down the staircase, and I felt Jacob slide me off his lap and stand up.

"Jake, what're you doing?" He didn't answer me.

"Bella?" Edward's voice floated to me "What's happening?"

I was confused. He said he didn't care if I spent time with Jake. "What are you talking about Edward? You said you didn't mind my relationship with Jacob."

If he looked hurt before, it was nothing to the expression on his face now. "Your.. He kissed you.. I thought.. friends... I'm sorry" he finished in a whisper and turned, running back in the direction he'd come from. And then, everything clicked together. He'd seen Jacob tickling me, seen him kiss my forehead, and thought the worst. And I didn't blame him, Jake and I were acting like we always used to, and our behaviour had led a load of people to think we were together. I hadn't spent a lot of time with Jake since I met Edward, so he didn't know.. But he'd seen us on the night we met, and he knew we weren't dating. I looked to Jacob, to see his features arranged in a smug expression.

"You knew he was watching?"

His face lost its smug look.

"YOU KNEW HE WAS WATCHING" I screamed, this time as an accusation.

He didn't even defend himself, instead shrugging. I turned to follow Edward, but Jake pulled me back towards him, and crushed his lips to mine. I struggled against him, first trying to push him away, and then pulling his hair away from the direction of my face. Jacob misinterpreted my actions, and pulled me closer to him. I stopped resisting, and decided it might be easier to just wait. After what seemed like forever, he pulled away smiling, until he saw the tears in my eyes. I raised my hand, and punched him square in the jaw, before turning and running after Edward.

My hand was throbbing from the punch, and I was pretty sure I'd felt something crack, but I needed to find him. I ran towards his trailer, but he wasn't there. I searched for him, but he was no-where to be found, and I couldn't go to his band mates' trailers, they'd probably hate me. I considered going back to my trailer, but I didn't want to be in a confined space, instead walking towards the park. I'd left my board near Jake, but it seemed like the right place to go. I sat down in the shadows, and began sobbing pathetically.

* * *

**Okay, so Edward's POV is coming up now, Possibly tonight if I dont have to deal with any more distractions. **

**Hoping that everyone had an AWESOME New Years! **

**I'm off to try and get in Mr Cullen's head, please let me know what you think! More reviews equal faster updates!  
**


	8. TheCourseOfTrueLoveNeverDidRunSmooth

_**Okay, so It took me longer than I thought to update. Sorry guys. Reviews mean faster updates.**_

_**I don't own Twilight.**_

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EPOV

Relationship. The word swam around in my head over and over. Bella said relationship, not friendship. I couldn't believe how she'd played me. She seemed so pure, so amazing, but I guess I was wrong.

I sighed and looked around my hiding place. I'd gone to Emmett's trailer, in the vain hope he'd distract me without asking questions, which he did... Until a few hours later when Rosalie showed up. I explained what I'd seen and what Bella said, while they sat listening in silence. After I'd finished, there was silence for few seconds, until Rose burst out

"This has to be a misunderstanding. Bella doesn't like him, she thinks of him as a brother. That's probably why she said relationship. Bella isn't like that... She can't be! You should go talk to her."

I thought about her words, and allowed myself a little glimmer of hope. I stood up and walked towards her trailer, hoping that we could talk, and everything would be okay, but she wasn't there. I decided to try Jake's trailer, but as I got closer, I heard faint noises from inside. Feeling like a peeping tom, I walked towards an open window, and peeked inside, and as I did, I felt as if my heart had just been put into a blender. They were in his bed... All I saw before I turned away was Jacob's back, but it was enough. The sounds they were making were becoming deafening, and I started to run. I locked myself in my trailer, and sunk into a pit of self pity.

_Get a grip Edward; you've only known her a few weeks. GET A GRIP_.

Talking to myself wasn't helping, so I called a cab to get me away.

I ended up at a random club, and headed straight for the bar. There were girls all around throwing themselves at me, and I declined at first, but after a few drinks I wasn't as opposed to the idea. The last thing I remembered was leaving the club with some some girl, and going back to the trailer.

I woke up with a throbbing hangover, and it took me a few minutes to figure out why I felt so terrible. Then I remembered Bella, and most of what followed. I looked across to see the girl from the club still asleep next to me... With no clothes on. My outfit matched hers. I groaned, and slipped out of bed to get dressed.

_What the hell did I do last night? Fuck. This isn't good. What am I gonna do about-_

My internal deliberation was interrupted by Alice bursting in, chattering quickly.

"Hey Edward... Rose and Em told me what happened.. How'd your talk..."

She stopped when she saw me half dressed, and the girl in my bed.

"Edward what the hell's going on!?!?! What about Bella? Weren't you gonna talk to her! EDWARD!"

I shushed her, worried about waking the girl. I motioned for her to wait outside, and she stomped out with an angry look. I pulled on my jeans and followed her out. She looked like she was going to start yelling again, but I cut her off.

"Just listen"

I explained everything, from Bella and Jake's "relationship" right up to waking up next to the random girl whose name I failed to remember. Alice listened, and her face showed how shocked she felt.

"Oh my gosh Edward. I'm sorry." She hugged me, and made an excuse to leave, so I walked back inside, trying to think of a polite way to ask the girl to leave. She was just waking up, and she smiled at me.

"Hey sexy. Why don't you come back to bed?"

I grimaced. This was going to be difficult.

"Um hey...."

"Tanya"

"Sorry. Tanya, I was very drunk last night, I'd like to apologise for my behaviour. It was very undignified."

She laughed. "Hun, drop the formalities. It was a one night stand, no big. Well.. You were big..." She laughed again. "Anyways, I'm gonna jet. We swapped numbers last night, so if you're ever in Chicago again, gimme a call" She winked. And then she got dressed, called a cab and left. I lay down on my couch, letting the regret sink in.

BPOV

I woke up on a hard uncomfortable surface. I must've fallen asleep at the park. I started walking towards Edward's trailer. Maybe I could still fix things; maybe I hadn't lost my chance. My hope went out the window when I saw a gorgeous redhead walk out of the place I was headed. I watched her get into a cab and leave, before running to my own trailer, struggling to keep tears in check. I wanted to be alone, but that seemed to be making things worse. I had to talk to someone, and the only person I could think of was Alice. I walked to her trailer and knocked softly, all the while seriously considering just running back to the safety of seclusion. The door swung open immediately, and Rose was looking down at me angrily

"You have a lot of fucking nerve Isabella. How could you do that to Edward?"

I started crying again

"He never interfered with what you wanted to do."

I started shaking

"He was practically in love with you! And you threw it in his face!"

I sunk to the ground, and started making choking noises in the back of my throat.

"It was a misunderstanding. I didn't mean to hurt... I love him. I need..." I wasn't able to get anything more past my sobbing, and I doubt she even understood what I said, but I felt two pairs of arms helping me up and forward, and suddenly I was on Alice's couch. I heard her start to speak, so I looked up at her.

"Bella, I'd like you to explain yourself. If this is a misunderstanding" she hissed the word "then it's important we know."

I didn't fail to notice how hard she seemed to be trying to remain calm, and realising this opportunity wasn't going to come along again, I forced myself to speak, starting with the skate session with Jake yesterday. As they listened, their expressions changed to confusion, and even less veiled anger.

I finished talking, and started freaking out. Rosalie looked like she was going to murder me

"If we'd known you were going to lie, we wouldn't have let you in" she hissed. "You seem to have left out the part about fucking Jake in your little summary of events"

My eyes widened, and I cried harder.

"Sucks being caught out doesn't it!"

I stood up and stumbled to the door. I grasped the frame, and turned back to the two women who were watching me with looks of revulsion. "I'm sorry I came. I thought I could talk to you both... I know you don't believe me, but I told the truth. I love him".

I ran across the ground, barely seeing where I was going, but I made it back to my trailer. We were leaving today, we had another show tomorrow, and then we were on a plane to another country. Tonight was the last night we had to spend in these trailers, we were flying everywhere for the rest of the tour, and staying in hotels. I crawled into my bed and cried myself back to sleep.

EmPOV

Jacob slept with Bella. And Edward was crushed. I needed to talk to her, and then beat the shit out of him. I walked towards his trailer, and bashed on the door once before storming in, yelling at the top of my lungs

"BELLA! JACOB! WHAT THE FUCK?"

They were both under the covers completely, until Jacob sat up.

"What are you doing Emmett?" He growled, rubbing his eyes.

"I need to talk to Bella. Now."

"Why're you here then?"

What was his game? I glanced at the girl who was still somehow asleep, lying on her stomach, letting my eyes skim over her tanned back before looking back to Jacob.

"What's your-"

I stopped myself. Tanned back? I looked over at the girl again, and noticed how her black hair fanned out around her.

"That's not Bella."

Jake looked at me like I was going crazy. "I know. That's Leah... We met a few weeks ago. We hooked up last night after Bella rejected me and tried to punch me. Well to her credit, it fucking hurt, but I heard her knuckles crack."

Bella rejected Jake? Jake slept with Leah. Edward slept with random club girl. Bella slept on her own? This was really fucked up. Jake was looking at me like he wanted an explanation.

"No time" I grunted, before hurling myself out his door, and running towards Edward's trailer. He was lying on his couch, and before he could say a word I told him everything Jake told me, and he looked better and worse at the same time. He seemed elated that Bella had been faithful, but depressed that he couldn't say the same for himself.

I heard an engine start and looked at the time. Oh shit, we were leaving now! I left Edward on his couch, and closed the door, running to Alice's trailer where I knew Rose was. Jasper was still asleep, so I woke him up and barked at him to go to Edward. He seemed annoyed, but he left, just as the engine of the trailer started. Rose and Alice were curious as to my behaviour, and as the trailer started to move, I told them what Jake had told me. I expected them to be happy, but instead they burst into tears. I raced to hold Rose in my arms, and ask what was wrong. They told me Bella had come to talk to them, and they'd sent her away crying. Okay, this was getting more and more fucked every second. I sat and let the girls cry, trying to figure out what to do. This was going to be really hard to fix.

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**_Lots of drama I know. Hopefully it's not too soap-opera-ish. The title of this chapter is a quote from a Midsummer Night's dream, by the amazing William Shakespeare. I thought it fitting considering the events that have transpired, and also the way everyone's all mixed up. Edward sleeping with Tanya, Jacob with Leah.. Kinda like the fairies in A Midsummer Night's dream all get mixed up in love. Except I'm pretty sure they didnt sex.... (: ciao, shellii_**


	9. We're All In This Together

BPOV

I lay on my bed sobbing for hours after Alice and Rosalie yelled at me, hoping that I'd wear myself out and fall asleep, but I was just too upset. I was just starting to drift off, when I heard my phone ringing. I recognised the song immediately.

_Together, together, together everyone  
Together, together, come on lets have some fun  
Together, were there for each other every time  
Together, together come on let's do this right_

It was "We're all in this together" from High school Musical. Alice had insisted on assigning it as her tone after we watched it together... Over and over... Singing along with every song. The memory brought on a whole new round of tears, and I wondered why she would be calling. There was a very slim chance that she'd decided she believed me, but I didn't wanna take that chance. I silenced the call, and tried to calm myself down.

A shower seemed like a good idea, and I was incredibly thankful these trailers had fully equipped bathrooms. I stripped down, and let the water run over me for a bit, before lathering up my hair with my favourite shampoo. I stayed under the water until it started to run cold, at which point I turned off the taps, shivering a little. I dressed in jeans and a tee, and slouched back to my bed, picking up my cell on the way. There were 8 missed calls, and it started ringing again as I held it, startling me so much that I dropped it. As it hit the ground it flipped open, answering the call, and I cursed. I had no choice now. Before I could pretend I hadn't heard my cell, but that wouldn't work now. I bent and picked it up, putting it to my ear carefully.

"Hello?"

"BELLA! Oh my god Bella I'm so sorry! You weren't lying and we were so horrid and I'm such a bad friend. I can't believe what I did to you I'm so sorry, Bella? BELLA? SAY SOMETHING! BEL-

"Calm down Alice!"

In truth I'd been waiting for her to take a breath, so I could say something, but I realised now that she was probably too stressed to remember to pause.

"Bella I'm so sorry"

"It's ok Alice. It's ok... Listen, get your driver to pull over and I'll come over to your trailer."

"You're so nice. I feel even worse. I'm so sorry."

I told her to calm down again, and hung up, then used an intercom system to contact the driver. He pulled over, and I grabbed a jacket in case it got cold before running towards the trailer parked behind my own. My driver watched me in the side mirror, and started to pull away as Alice's door opened.

Emmett stood before me, and held out a hand to help me inside. I walked up the three stairs, and was suddenly attacked. I screamed, until I realised it was Alice and Rosalie, not attacking but hugging me. They were both crying and apologising so much that I burst into tears as well, just as we started moving again. Emmett stood awkwardly to the side, evidently not knowing what to do. Eventually he decided it'd be best to try and move us somewhere we could sit, so he gently ushered us towards the lounge, where I sat between a sobbing Rosalie and Alice. I looked up to see Emmett backing away, but I stopped him

"Oh no you don't! I need someone to explain this! Why did they hate me? What happened?"

He sighed and sat down on one of the lounge chairs.

"Okay, long story short, Edward saw you and Jake and thought that you guys had something going on. As more than friends. So we played video games, but then Rose told him to talk to you, but then you were fucking Jake, so he got drunk and slept with club-girl, so Alice got angry until he told her you fucked Jake, so she got angrier! So I went to yell at you and Jake, but you weren't you, Leah was you, but Alice and Rose didn't know, and they thought you were Leah... Well that Leah was you... And then you ran away, and I ran and told Rose, and her and Alice cried, and then I made jasper get up and go to Edward, and then you wouldn't answer your phone for ages, and then you did, and now you're here."

I leaned back in my chair, letting it all sink in. I should've known Emmett's explanation would be blunt, but it still shocked me. Up until just a moment before, I'd been holding on to the hope that nothing had happened between Edward and the girl leaving his trailer. But hearing Emmett confirm it was a lot to handle. I don't know how long I sat in that seat, but at some point Alice fell asleep leaning on my shoulder, and Rose soon followed. We pulled into a service station just as the sun was beginning to set, and I carefully got up, taking care not to wake Alice and Rose. Emmett looked at me questioningly; he'd been playing gears of war for the last few hours, but I didn't doubt he noticed my lack of movement.

"Fresh air" I said simply, and he nodded. I walked down the stairs, and out into the cool air, shrugging on my jacket as I went. I started walking slowly, and noticed the service station was actually part of a shopping complex. I walked towards it, and saw that there was a restaurant, a supermarket, an electronics and gaming shop, a music shop, and a motorcycle shop. I heard someone giggling, and turned to see Jake tickling a girl he'd met a few weeks ago.

_That must be Leah. She's gorgeous. I'm glad he's found someone._

They hadn't seen me, so I walked towards the oddly matched complex, fighting tears. He'd always been mine, and now he wasn't. I knew it was selfish, but I resented Leah for taking him away from me.

_He wasn't yours. You rejected him. It's your fault._

I felt a few tears escaping, but I quickly wiped them away with the back of my hand, finding myself inside the bike shop. I looked around, and remembered Jake teaching me to ride one. It had taken a lot of convincing, but eventually Renee had allowed it, and let me get my licence.

"Can I help you miss?"

I was pulled out of my thoughts by a well built man in overalls. He stood about 6'1, with dark brown hair, and a tanned complexion.

"I'm fine for now thank you" I replied, turning towards the exit. I took a few steps, but stopped in my tracks when a mop of bronze hair caught my eye. Edward was standing near his trailer door, his arms around a voluptuous blonde girl.

My eyes started to tear up, but none fell, as I turned back to the man, who I now noticed had a nametag reading "Brett" clipped to his overalls.

"Which of these bikes can I buy right now, drive away?"

EPOV

I looked up from the CD I was signing at the sound of a roaring motorbike, just in time to see a bright red motorbike peel away from the shop it had obviously just been purchased from, and felt my insides twist up in horror. The rider had been wearing a helmet, but I recognised Bella's old jacket from the time we'd spent together. It had been her mom's, which made it the one piece of clothing she owned that Alice never criticized. I shoved the CD back at the girl who owned it, and started running after Bella. It didn't take long to realise that wouldn't work, so I ran to the person who she grew up with: Jacob. His trailer door was closed, but I didn't even knock. I flew in; panicking that Bella'd get hurt. He was in the bathroom, so I banged on the door like a crazy man, and screamed his name. He opened the door wrapped in a towel, and I quickly explained what I'd seen, and to my surprise he laughed. I stared at him in shock, until he explained that Bella had gotten her licence a year ago. Needless to say, I was still shocked, but panicking less. I drifted to Alice's trailer, and found everyone there, deep in discussion.

"What's going on guys?"

They all looked up at once, having obviously not noticed me come inside. Alice hesitated, and then spoke,

"We're gonna help you get Bella back."


	10. New Faces

**Okay, I'm pretty iffy about this. Considering re-writing it completely, let me know what you think. Also, I had to edit the last chapter, I forgot that Renee had died earlier in the story. (I know, I'm horrible)**

**Just in case anyone was wondering, at this point in time ages are as follows:**

**Bella, Alice, Angela -17**

**Edward- 18**

**Jasper, Embry, Seth- 19**

**Jake, Emmett, Rose - 20 (I know I said Jake was two years older than Bella, but Bella's gonna turn 18 soon)**

**Sam- 23  
**

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EPOV

After I walked in on my friend's scheming, they filled me in on some super important details.

One, Bella didn't sleep with Jake last night. Two, Rose and Alice had yelled at Bella this morning because they thought she slept with Jake, but been forgiven in the early afternoon.

At first I'd felt like leaping for joy, but then I thought about what I'd done. I'd slept with a random girl, and Bella knew. Everything was going so wrong. I was lying on Alice's bed, trying to think of a way to fix everything when Alice's got a message.

"It's Bella!" She managed to squeal before I snatched the phone from her dainty hands.

Hey Alice. I've checked into a hotel, sick of the trailer. James Court on Victoria st. Reserved rooms for all you guys. See you tomorrow.

I lay back, and Alice took her phone back, and read the message aloud.

"Yes! No more stupid trailer!"

Jasper laughed, "Honey, this would've been our last night in here anyway."

"That's not the point." Alice retorted, and Jasper wisely left her be.

I heard Rosalie on the intercom, asking how long until we reached the city were we were staying, and I sat up again when I heard it was two hours.

"ALICE! She must've been going so fast! You have to see if she's ok. Fuck this is all my fault. Oh god. Two hours ahead! TWO HOURS"

APOV

I sat back and listened to Edward ranting about the speed of Bella's motorbike. I had no idea why it was being directed at me, but every time I tried to get a word in he cut me off with a louder one. Jasper sat wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me to him, and I was grateful.

I felt terrible for the way I'd talked to Bella, and no matter what I told myself; I couldn't rid myself of the guilt. Edward's yelling wasn't making me feel any better, and it didn't take long for tears to start rolling down my cheeks. Edward noticed, and stopped himself immediately.

"Oh man. Alice I'm so sorry! Fuck I'm just fucking... ARGH"

He turned and stormed to the furthest corner of the trailer, and we sat in silence for the rest of the trip.

BPOV

I took another shower when I got into the hotel, trying to kill time. I'd texted Alice and Jake to let them know where I was, and that I'd booked them rooms as soon as I arrived, and even gone shopping to pick up a few things, but now I was sitting around with nothing to do. I sat down at the desk in my room and pulled a folder towards me. It was one of those ones hotels put together for their guests, and I flicked through it until I got to the room service section. There were pages and pages of food and drinks, and I jotted down a few things on the notepad before I turned to the page I was looking for. I picked up the phone and dialled.

"Hello, room-service."

"Hey. It's Bella Swan up in 1209; I wanna get a few things, you ready?"

"Yes mam"

"Okay. I want a large dish of creamy bacon cabonara, a large cheese pizza, a large pepperoni pizza, a chocolate fondue fountain, along with a shitload of strawberries and banana lollies... um. I'll also grab a six pack of Toohey's extra dry platinum, and an Xbox 360 with wireless for Xbox live, as well as guitar hero 3, two guitar controllers, two normal controllers, dead rising and skate. Oh and chuck in a few passionfruit cruisers too."

I waited as the employee repeated my order back, smiling. I was no-where near old enough to be drinking, but I was pleased to note that my credit cards were enough to persuade them. After requesting the Xbox and alcohol as soon as possible, I hung up the phone. Standing up, I wandered over to the window, staring out at the city. It wasn't completely dark, but I could tell I would be within the next half hour. I walked over to the lounge and flopped down onto it. I picked up the remote from the table beside it, and turned on the TV. There wasn't a lot on, so I switched it to [V], and sat watching random music videos. I was watching two skeletons frolic in the waves when I heard a knock on the door.

I opened it to find a pretty woman in her late teens with a hotel trolley full of stuff. I let her in, and she quickly set up the Xbox and the fondue fountain, shoved the drinks in the fridge, put the food on the table, then got up to leave. She walked to the door looking like she was arguing with herself. She was about to leave, when she spun around and faced me.

"AreyouBellaSwan?"

I almost missed what she said, but I was used to Alice's fast talking. I nodded.

"Like.. The Bella Swan?"

I nodded again, becoming slightly wary, and suddenly the girl flung herself at me. I started to scream, but she was saying something, and it seemed like a good idea to listen

"MYGODIcan'tbelievethis! You! You're so awesome! I'm going to your show tomorrow! YOU GET TO HANG WITH THE CULLENS! Is it true you and Edward have a thing going? OHMYGOD!"

She continued like that for a little while, until she seemed to suddenly remember herself. She looked embarrassed, and muttered softly

"I'm so sorry. I'd better go."

She started to walk away, and I realised I really didn't want to be alone.

"Hey... What time do you get off work?"

She turned to look at me uncertainly. "I'm off now. I was just bringing this up before I went home..."

I smiled. "This might sound weird, but do you wanna hang out with me? I rode a motorbike to here, so all my friends are way behind me..."

Her face lit up like a kid on Christmas. "OHMYGOD! Are you serious?! Of course! I'd love to!"

I laughed at her enthusiasm, and she laughed too. We closed the door, and decided to play Guitar Hero. We played career for about an hour, to unlock all the songs, and then sat back in the lounge nursing our sore fingers.

"Why are you alone?"

Her question shocked me, and I was silent for a moment. She must have taken my silence as anger, because she started to apologise, but I cut her off.

"It's okay. You sure you wanna know?"

She nodded

"Okay. Me and Edward started seeing each other, but then Edward thought me and Jake were more than friends after he saw Jake tickle me and kiss my forehead, and I tried to go after him, but I couldn't find him, so I slept at the park, and Jake slept with someone who Edward thought was me, so he got drunk and slept with some girl, and then Alice and Rose hated me until Emmett told them I'd been telling the truth, then they apologised, and Edward was hugging a girl at the servo, so I brought a motorbike and rode here."

I had tears in my eyes by the time I finished, and she sat momentarily stunned, but she quickly recovered herself.

"Oh my gosh. That sucks" she said softly patting me on the back soothingly.

I wiped the moisture from my face and sat up. "Hey, what's your name?"

She smiled as she answered, "Angela. Angela Weber"

I smiled as well, standing. "Well Angela Weber. Prepare to be owned at guitar hero!"

"Oh-ho-ho. I think I can take you!"

We laughed and started playing guitar hero again, this time in multiplayer mode. It was easy to get along with Angela, and she was helping me keep my mind off other stuff, which made me immensely grateful for her company. We played like we were on a stage, and started jumping all over the furniture too. It was a little difficult for Angela in her uniform, so I lent her a pair of jeans and a tee to change into. We were shredding up 'Through Fire and Flames' by Dragonforce when I heard a knock on the door. Thinking about it, perhaps knock wasn't the best description. The door was being banged repeatedly, with enough force to make the whole thing vibrate. I walked to open it, ducking under Seth's fist when he didn't notice the door was missing. He pulled me into a hug, and I noticed he was alone.

"Where is everyone?" I asked when he released me. He shrugged, and as we walked further into the room he explained he'd raced into the hotel to demand my room number, and then come as fast as he could.

"Two hours! Fucking good work! Jake taught you well! Nice choice too! Ninja 250R! Sick as."

He seemed to suddenly notice Angela standing awkwardly next to the lounge, and looked at me questioningly before, turning to stare at her. I smiled, beginning the introductions.

"Seth, Angela. Angela, Seth."

Angela tried to smile, but she looked too sad to really do so. "I guess I should go then? I'll get these cleaned and have them in your room tomorrow..."

She started to walk to the door and Seth and I stared after her in shock

"Why are you leaving?"

It wasn't me who spoke, but Seth

She turned and shrugged "I thought you might just wanna chill with your friends now..." she trailed off.

I laughed, "Ang, you came and played guitar hero with me when I probably seemed crazy, took my mind off the boys in my life, and comforted me when I cried. As far as I'm concerned, we're definitely friends right now. I crossed to where I'd dumped my jacket and pulled out some cards. "I mean, if you weren't my friend, why would I be giving you this VIP access all areas pass for the festival tomorrow?"

She stood completely still for a moment, as if absorbing what I'd said, and then for the second time today flung herself at me.

"OHMYGOD YOU'RE SO COOL I CANT BELIEVE IT!!!!"

I smiled and she released me, just in time to hear someone else knock on the door.

I dawdled over there, leaving Seth and Angela standing near each other, and opened the door, bracing myself in preparation for the two girls I knew were on the other side of the door. They attacked me as I expected, but released me when they heard voices from back in the room. I let them in, as well as Jasper Emmett and Embry, who were standing in the hall behind them. I introduced everyone to everyone, and everything seemed okay until Seth asked loudly "Where's Edward? And Jake?" I sighed, and everyone fidgeted nervously. I should've realised that none of my guys would have heard what happened, apart from Embry, who probably got filled in on his way upstairs with Alice.

I nodded at Alice, and rose to go to the phone. "More room service I explained". I picked up the phone and dialled, trying to tune out what Alice was telling Seth as I asked the hotel to bring up Guitar hero world tour, another case of beer, and heaps of popcorn and lollies. Alice and I finished talking around the same time, and I walked back to the group.

" Okay guys! Grog, video games and junk food!" I said grinning, and they cheered. It only took 5 minutes for everything I wanted to get to my room, and we took it in turns playing. Emmett was obviously perfect at drumming, so we tried to get him onto the guitars in the interest of fairness. We stayed up until the early hours of the morning, everyone laughing and messing around. There was definite chemistry between Ang and Seth, and I forced myself to be happy about that. At around 2, she announced she had to leave so as to make her 2.30 curfew, and Seth walked her out. Everyone else followed suit, walking to their own rooms, until I was once again alone. I changed into the Pyjamas I'd picked up earlier, and curled up in my bed, wondering what tomorrow would be like.

* * *

**I think this is the longest chapter so far! Thanks for the feedback on that last chapter (: **

**I'm Australian, and I dont know what teenagers in america drink (in ters of alcohol) so the drinks Bella orders with room service are just what I'd order in her position. I also don't know how tough drinking laws are in America, I'm just using my imagination. **

**If anything doesn't make sense, just ask and I'll happily explain/fix.  
**


	11. I Believe In A Thing Called Love

**I don't own Twilight. I don't own the Darkness.**

* * *

EPOV

Stupid. So stupid. She hates me now, I know it. I wish Alice'd hurry up. I paced around my spacious hotel room, resisting the urge to crack open the mini-bar. There was a knock on the door just after 2am, and I raced to open it. It was Alice, and she wasted no time with formalities, launching straight into a lecture

"Do you have ANY idea how much you hurt her? She's really trying to hide it, but man she sucks at lying! And YOU! Flirting with those fans! Even if you didn't know the truth then, it was still so stupid! Or is that your new plan? Flirt with every girl on the planet until Bella's finally had enough and she runs away from all of us? Because she will! If you hurt her anymore, there's no way she'll be able to stay around! And it's not like it'd be easy to go see her, with the band lined up for tours for the next like year!"

I was slightly alarmed. Alice hadn't been this angry earlier.

I sank to the floor, as if Alice was beating me rather than yelling at me. I'd hurt Bella. She'd seen me with Tanya, and those fans. I just kept hurting her.

Alice slowed to a stop, and sank to the floor beside me, wrapping her thin arms around my shoulders, and I let a few tears escape.

"I've ruined everything", I whispered. "She hates me."

Suddenly, Alice punched me in the arm. Hard.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

She hit me again. "For messing things up with Bella. And then for not trying to fix them! Stop feeling sorry for yourself and get off your big butt and get her back!"

"How? Alice, I don't know how she could ever possibly forgive me! I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive myself!"

Alice punched me again. "Edward, stop being a baby! I have a plan."

Her eyes sparkled as she said that, and I settled in to hear what she had in mind.

* * *

BPOV

I woke to the shrill beeping of my alarm clock and groaned audibly. I hadn't been able to sleep until almost 5 am, and it was 7 now. I pushed back the covers and walked to the table I'd set the alarm clock on- I tended to just press the snooze button if my alarm was close to my bed.

I wasted no time getting ready, showering, and slipping on jeans and a tee-shirt. Alice hated the clothes I wore, and took every opportunity to dress me up, but she couldn't argue with practicality. Well she could, but she'd resigned herself to letting me wear what I wanted when I had work to do. I pulled my hair up into a messy bun, and picked a pair of socks out of my shopping bags, which I pulled on, before grabbing my swipe card and walking out the door. I wasn't going far, just down to my trailer to get my shoes and board.

On my way back up, I stopped by the main desk, and asked that all my things from both my trailer and my room be packed whilst I was out. I had to repeat my request a few times, before the boy behind the counter was able to fully absorb what I was saying. I had him repeat it back to me, and turned to leave.

"Can I have your autograph?"

I spun back around, a smile on my face, to see the boy awkwardly holding a pen and notepad.

I grinned, "Sure man. Who should I write it to?"

He looked too stunned to speak for a moment, but he recovered enough to stutter out a few words.

"Joel. Joel Gray"

I scribbled a few words on the paper, and signed my name. I was about to leave it at that, but I changed my mind.

"Are you working all day Joel?"

"No, I get off in a few hours" he said uncertainly.

I flipped open my cell and dialled Alice's number. She picked up after a few rings

"Bella? Hey are you ok? What's up? Talk to me!"

"Alice chill. Can you drop in two or three double all access passes to Joel at the front desk"

Joel's face lit up at hearing my words, and I laughed

"Um.. Okay Bella.. I'll get them to him before I go.. See you later?"

I laughed again, not liking how off it sounded "Yeah Al. See you later."

I hung up the phone, and waved at Joel, before walking out the front doors to the first of the cars waiting for all of us. Without stopping, I opened the door, and seated myself in the back seat.

My friendly encounter with Joel had felt too forced on my part. I'd acted as my instincts told me to when dealing with people, but the soft laughs I'd emitted sounded hollow and sad. Joel hadn't picked up on it, and how could he? But I knew Alice would've. I knew she had last night too, and I sighed, and looked out the window, noticing we were still stationary. I looked toward the driver, and he met my gaze.

"Why aren't we moving?"

Surprise crossed the driver's face as he answered, "I thought you'd want to wait for Master Cullen, Miss Swan."

My face crumpled, and I unwillingly let a few tears slip out. "Just go" I choked out, and the driver pulled away immediately, looking quite afraid of my strange reaction.

The rest of the ride was silent, except the soft sobs that racked my body. We pulled to a standstill, but the driver didn't say a word. After a few minutes, I got myself under control, and left the car, making a beeline for the maze of ramps and rails that made up the festival skate park. It was very early, and most of the other performers were just arriving. From where I was, I could see anyone who pulled up, and I retired to a tent when I saw Edward and the rest of the band arrive. I wondered what had kept them so long. They went on in a half hour, and Usually Alice insisted they were at least an hour early.

It was only 9.30, and the day was already hot as I paced around the tent, listening to the sounds of the festival goers as they entered the public part of the grounds. At around 10 to 10, I left the tent to meet up with the team back at the park, making sure I was accompanied by a security guard in case something happened that might waylay my appearance. Fortunately, It wasn't far to walk, and I managed to get through the relatively thin crowds of fans. We were starting today with a group skate, where we all wove around each other and the obstacles. I forced a smile and greeted everyone, even Jake. He was about to say something to me, but I held up a hand.

"Jake, we've got to start now. We'll talk later"

He tried to protest, but I was already making my way to my starting point, and the rest of the team followed my example. I heard music start in the background, and dropped in, right on queue. We'd set it up to skate together for about 20 minutes, before we turned the park over to some locals, who'd competed for spots today. I started walking towards the autograph tent, wanting to get that part of my day over early, but someone caught me by the wrist. It was Seth, and he smiled widely at me

"Bells, I think you should come with me for a sec"

I forced a smile back, that he looked like he didn't buy, and he started dragging me in a different direction. It didn't take long to see we were headed for the main stage, and I stopped suddenly.

"Seth, what are we doing?"

"Just come Bella"

"No" I pried my arm free and turned to run away, but something caught me around the waist.

"I'm sorry Bells, but you need to come" He said quickly, and started jogging.

"Seth! Stop it! I don't want to go over there! Seth!"

People were staring, and I didn't blame them, but it didn't seem to faze Seth in the slightest. Stupid attention seeking team-mate.

He stopped and put me down, and I noticed we were near the front of the stage, surrounded by angry looking teenage girls. I looked up at Rosalie, who was addressing the audience, and worked not to let tears overpower me again.

"We were almost late!" Seth told me, and I tried to pay attention to what Rose was saying

"-which is why I won't be singing this next track. But let's give it up for someone I know you all love, Edward Cullen!"

The girls around me screamed as Edward strode onstage clad in nothing but a pair of tight gold pants, and suspenders. He looked amazing. Over the last few weeks he'd acquired a soft tan, and I let my eyes travel across his muscular body to the tambourine in his hand as he stepped up to the microphone and began to speak.

"I'd like to dedicate this to Bella. Please forgive me"

The music began to play, and I recognised the music even before the words started. It was one of my favourites. Edward and I had danced crazily to it a few weeks ago, and I couldn't help but smile as he started to sing.

_Mother Mother said there's far too many of you crying.  
All you need is love I believe in love_

_Can't explain all the feelings that you're making me feel  
My heart's in overdrive and you're behind the steering wheel  
Listen_

_Touching you, touching me  
Touching you, God you're touching me_

_I believe in a thing called love  
Just listen to the rhythm of my heart  
There's a chance we could make it now  
We'll be rocking 'til the sun goes down  
I believe in a thing called love  
Ooh!_

_I wanna kiss you every minute, every hour, every day  
You got me in a spin but everything is !_

_Touching you, touching me  
Touching you, God you're touching me_

_I believe in a thing called love  
Just listen to the rhythm of my heart  
There's a chance we could make it now  
We'll be rocking 'til the sun goes down  
I believe in a thing called love  
Ooh! Guitar!_

Seth lifted me high, and Edward grabbed my hand to pull me onto the stage as Rosalie shredded the solo.

"I love you" he whispered, and I crushed my lips to his, and he returned the kiss with passion. We pulled apart just in time for him to start the bridge, and I laughed and started dancing.

_  
Touching you, touching me  
Touching you, God you're touching me_

_I believe in a thing called love  
Just listen to the rhythm of my heart  
There's a chance we could make it now  
We'll be rocking 'til the sun goes down  
I believe in a thing called love  
Ooh!_

The song came to an end, and he pulled me into his arms. I didn't want to move, but Rosalie tapped him on the shoulder, and yelled over the sound of the fans

"Sorry Edward! But we have the rest of our set to play! And Bella, I'm pretty sure you've got some skating to do!"

I grinned at her, before turning back to Edward

"I'll see you later"

At that I simply threw myself into the crowd, where Seth caught me, and pushed his way out. After the fans thinned out, Seth put me back on my feet, and we ran together towards the skate park.

I arrived just in time to hear the announcer call my name. Embry passed my board to me, and I dropped in to the screams of hundreds of people. I felt like I was flying. All the hurt from the past few days had fallen away, and I felt light as a feather. I couldn't stop repeating Edward's words inside my head, and I didn't want to. He loves me.

* * *

**Long wait I know! I've started using the family computer to update, because I love you all so much. Sorry it took so long. **

***giggles* Edward's performance was way too cool for my imagination to come up with on it's own. At school last year, one of the bands performed that song for Battle of the Bands, gold pants and all. And Oh my god it was freeking awesome. It may seem like Bella and Edward are all cool now, but there's more drmam to come, I promise. This chapter's a bit iffy in terms of quality, please forgive.**

**Ciao, Shellii**


	12. In Our Family Portrait

**Dont own it, just love it**

* * *

EPOV

"Attention passengers, we will be landing shortly. Please remain in your seats for the remainder of the flight"

I groaned at the interruption to my slumber and sat up, surveying my surroundings. Bella was in the seat next to me snoring softly, Alice and Jasper were asleep in their seats, and Seth was sprawled out across two seats, drooling slightly. I looked around for Rosalie and Emmett, and noticed the 'occupied' light was on for the bathroom. Shaking my head to try and rid my mind of the image that had just jumped to my mind, I turned to see Bella stirring from her own sleep.

"Morning Bells" I smiled.

She stared at me for a few seconds before looking away and grunting in response.

"Your hair looks like a haystack, but I like it."

At this turned to me long enough to shoot me a withering glare and mutter a few words. "Shut up, and come here."

I scooted closer to her, thankful that the hand rest between us flipped up and out of the way, and leaned in to kiss her. I was surprised when she pushed my face away from hers.

"Not now Edward, I'm tired"

And with that she leaned against me and closed her eyes again. Emmett and Rosalie, who had chosen that moment to make their way to their seats laughed at what they'd just witnessed, until I shot them a look that clearly said "Wake here and you'll pay"

Emmett shrugged, and turned to kiss Rosalie, who didn't object. I shook my head for the second time, and looked down at my sleeping Bella. Twenty minutes later, we were on the tarmac. I was about to wake Bella when Jacob and Seth started singing loudly.

"SWEET HOME ARIZONA! WHERE THE SKATING IS SO GOOD!  
SWEET HOME ARIZONA! DAD I'M GONNA VISIT YOU!"

They exited the plane and I could no longer make out the exact words in their obviously made up song, and stood up.

"God they sing that every time"

I turned to Bella to see her looking towards the exit with an amused smile playing across her face.

"They tried to get me to join in once..." Her smile faltered for a second, before she picked up her carry on bag and started to follow the rest of the first class passengers.

I frowned, and caught her by the wrist.

"Bella? What's wrong?"

She looked at me and giggled, "Nothing's wrong Edward. Calm down"

She slipped out of my grasp and kept walking, leaving me no choice but to follow, wondering if I was imagining things. I caught up with Bella and took her hand as we walked towards the inside of the airport.

"Excited about being back home?" I asked smiling

"Kinda. It'll be nice to see Billy, and Sue and Harry"

I panicked, not being able to place the names. "Um.."

Bella laughed at my expression and started to explain. "Billy is Jake's dad, but he raised me from when I was 12... After my mum passed away. And Harry and sue are Seth's parents, they were good friends with my mum, and they're still close to Billy."

"Oh" I sighed. I felt a bit guilty for asking. Of course, Bella didn't miss this, and stopped abruptly to pull me into her arms.

"It's okay Edward, you didn't know." She gave me a chaste kiss, before taking my hand and pulling me forward.

We were about to enter the main part of the airport when Alice, grabbed Bella's arm.

"Do you really think you're going out there like that?" She hissed.

Bella stared at Alice blankly, and Alice rolled her eyes. "Hold still"

10 minutes later, Bella and I walked hand in hand through the crowd of press gathered around the door. Alice had managed to twist Bella's hair into a knot at the back of her head, leaving a few strands out, and applied some form of makeup to her face. Bella had been impatient, but Alice promised she'd thank her next time she opened a magazine, and Bella grudgingly agreed.

Security interefered after not long, and the press thinned out and basically left us alone. I looked around, and suddenly Bella's hand disappeared from mine. I spun around quickly to see her running towards a group of people. Jacob and Seth were there, as were three older people who I assumed were Billy, Harry and Sue. As she ran, a sixth person stepped out from where he'd been standing behind Jacob, and Bella stopped in her tracks. The man started to walk toward her, calling her name, but she didn't respond. I jogged to her side, arriving just as the other man stopped infront of her.

"Bella. Belly-boo..."

"Don't call me that." She whispered, and I noticed she had tears running down her face.

"Come on Bells, give me a hug. Don't you miss your good old dad?"

The man who called himself Bella's father made to move closer to her, but she brought up her hand and slapped him.

"Stay away from me" she spat, before walking around him towards the exit. I followed her quickly, and we made it to the car waiting for us without any more complications. I wrapped my arms around her and she leaned into me as we drove away, soaking my shirt with her tears.

* * *

**It's been ages I know, sorry guys, depression and anxiety were hitting me pretty hard. Know this isn't very long, but I felt it shoulkd stop here. Next chapter coming very soon!**

**Ciao, Shellii xo**


	13. We Look Pretty Happy

**I don't own Twilight, MTV, Viva La Bam, TeenQueen, PoP and Grind magazines. **

* * *

BPOV

"_Bella? Hey Belly-boo? Come out sweetie?"_

_I tried to shrink back further into the closet i was hiding in. I knew that discovery would equal pain._

"_Bella? Come out come out wherever you are."_

_My breathing hitched as I realised his voice was getting louder_

"_Bellaaaaaa. Come to Charlie honey." His voice became more menacing._

"_You better hope I don't have to look for you as long as I did last time. COME OUT!"_

_I felt bile raise in my throat at his threat, and unwillingly whimpered. I clapped my hand over my mouth and hoped he hadn't heard, but once again luck wasn't on my side. The closet door opened, and there was nothing I could do as he tore away the clothes that were my sanctuary._

"_Now there Bella, you kept me waiting."_

_Tears started to roll down my face._

"_You KNOW I don't like to be kept waiting." He smiled horribly and reached down to grab me_

"Nooo!" I sat up in an unfamiliar bed, my clothes clinging to my body with perspiration, and began to sob. I felt two warms arms go around me, and started to scream, before I realised it was Edward. I moved closer to him, and he pulled me into his lap, so I could lean against his chest. His arms felt comforting and safe, and I allowed myself to sit and cry as he held me close and stroked my hair.

"It's ok Bella. You're ok. He's not here, he can't hurt you."

It took me a few seconds to wonder how Edward knew why I'd woken up the way I had, but when I did I asked.

"How?"

Edward kissed the top of my head before he answered.

"You were talking in your sleep. Whimpering, and telling Charlie to go away. Pleading with him to not do something." 00000

I shuddered as Edwards words reached me, and he pulled me even closer to him.

We were like that for a few minutes, me crying and him holding me.

"That man. He was Charlie?"

I paused for a moment before answering Edward's question with a nod.

We were both silent then, until I fell back into a thankfully dreamless sleep.

When I woke up, I noticed that I was in different clothes, and the sheets had been changed. I sat up and walked out of the bedroom, calling to Edward as I went.

"Edwaaaard."

"In here love" He responded, and I followed the sound to the kitchenette where he stood in front of the stove, cooking something in a fry pan.

I sniffed the air, "Pancakes?"

He smiled, "Close. Crepes. They're sort of like really thin pancakes. Take a seat, this one's almost done.

I sat down at the breakfast counter, and he crossed the kitchen to flip the crepe onto the empty plate in front of me. I stared blankly at the plate as Edward crossed to the stove and picked up a second fry pan, flipping it's contents onto his own plate. He took a seat next to me and pulled a container of sliced strawberries towards him.

"You're not eating?"

I shrugged. "I've never had these before. What do I do?"

He raised his eyebrows, but didn't comment on my lack of crepe experience.

"It's pretty straightforward Bells. You put whatever you want on it, then roll it up and eat it. Well that's how we eat them anyway. Do what you want" He smiled and started putting the strawberries in a line down the centre of his crepe, followed by slices of fresh pineapple, and a drizzle of maple syrup. I did the same, and rolled the crepe.

"Oh my god this is delicious!"

Edward swallowed what was in his mouth and laughed. As we ate together and joked about silly things, I let thoughts of Charlie start to drift out of my mind.

EPOV

As I watched Bella eat and joked with her, it was hard to purge my mind of the image of Bella sobbing against me. I'd never felt more scared than I did when I heard her calling out in her sleep, only to wake up screaming. I'd felt so hopeless, not knowing what to do, so I just held her and prayed to whatever god there is that she'd be okay. After a while she'd fallen asleep and I'd changed put her into a pair of pyjamas and laid her on the lounge so I could change the sheets quickly. I tried to preserve her modesty as best I could, but I couldn't help but notice how beautiful her body was... Even the scars that marred the skin of her back.

"Edward?" I snapped my head up to look at Bella, so realising I'd let my eyes travel down her body.

"Sorry. What where you saying?"

"What are we going to do today? We don't have anything booked till tomorrow."

"That's where you're wrong"

Bella and I turned to see Alice coming through the door, Jasper in tow.

"We have a lot of things to do today. Bella, you and the boys have an interview with Grind magazine, and Edward has to come with the band for an interview with PoP. Then at 12, we'll all be meeting up with the Viva La Bam crew to film some stuff for mtv, And that goes through till about 4, we'll be eating with them. Then at 5, The two of you have an interview with TeenQueen Magazine, seeing as how your little onstage make-up has made you the new IT couple. That'll only take a little while, and then we're having dinner at 7 at some new restaurant that's opening."

I stared at Alice, trying to absorb all of what she'd just said as she led a confused looking Bella into her room to get changed. 5 minutes later, Bella shoved Alice back out.

"Alice you're missing the point! Grind is a skate magazine! People are only just recognising me as it is! I am not going to show up in heels and a skirt and prove every single critic right! We'll be skating anyway! And oh my god have you EVER watched MTV?"

Bella slammed the door and re-emerged not long after in a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, a black singlet and a red white and blue flano with the sleeves rolled up.

Alice glared and Bella glared back.

"Okaaay. Ready to go everyone?" Jasper asked, speaking for the first time.

Alice didn't answer, instead crossed to the door and left. Jasper smiled at Bella before following.

"C'mon Bells. An angry Alice is not the person to mess with."

I walked Bella to the car waiting for her, where she was welcomed loudly by the rest of the skate team. She kissed me goodbye, and I watched the car drive away, unable to shake the feeling of dread that got worse the further away she was.

I ran to the car waiting for me and climbed in quickly

"Alice you need to do something. Call Grind and make sure they don't ask any questions about parentage. At all."

Alice looked at me inquisitively.

"I'll explain when I know what's going on. But you need to do this. It's for Bella. Please just make the call. And call TeenQueen too? And I need to borrow your laptop"

Alice sighed and passed me the laptop she carried everywhere as she dialled a number on her cell.

I opened the internet browser and typed "Bella Swan" into the search bar. The links were all to do with skating, and I sighed. I deleted her name, and searched "Charlie Swan". The first link was an article from a news report 8 years ago.

"Oh god."

* * *

**Oooh what happened with Charlie? What don't we know about Bella's past?**

**Sorry for the break. It'd be awesome to get some feedback on this chapter, It feels a little too drawn out. Let me know.**

**Ciao, Shellii**


	14. Please Dont Leave Me

**Things that I don't own: Twilight and it's characters and Viva La Bam. Things I wish I owned: See "things I don't own."**

* * *

BPOV

I tried to ignore the horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach as I drove away from Edward. As soon as I lost sight of him I started glancing around nervously, looking for any sign of Charlie.

"Bella"

I looked up to see the others watching me carefully. It was Jake who had spoken, and I cautiously met his eyes.

"I'm sorry about what happened yesterday. Charlie told Billy he'd talked to you. That you wanted to see him. He feels terrible. We all do... After what he did-"

"Jake please don't." I was trying not to break down, but it was hard. I let a few tears escape and Seth put an arm around my shoulder.

"It's okay Bells. We'll never let him near you."

I nodded and wiped my cheeks. It was comforting to hear his words, but I couldn't help but long for Edward. The team knew about Charlie, Seth and Jake because their parents had been the ones to help my mother and I, and the others had found out after an emotional outburst on my part during a conversation about families.

"Does Edward know?"

It was Jacob who had spoken, but I could see the question in all of their eyes. I shook my head.

"Bells, you know he-"

"I know Jake. I'll tell him. Leave it."

The rest of the trip was silent, and I pondered ways to talk to Edward.

We got to the magazine HQ and breezed through the group interview. Still, I was glad when we finally went outside to skate in front of the cameras. Skating was my release, and for those few minutes I forgot all about Charlie, about everything. I was completely at peace.

EPOV

I was distracted throughout the interview, and called Bella as soon as I was done. The phone rang for a while before a male voice answered.

"Hello?"

I remained silent.

"Helloooooo? Edward?"

"Seth?"

"Yeah man."

"How did you know it was me?"

He laughed. "Caller ID dude, chill. Bella's still skating, the photographers love her. Hell the magazine loves her. Everyone loves her. I'm pretty sure this guy'd offer her a job if he could."

I tried to laugh but the sound came out all wrong. I'm not sure if Seth didn't notice, or if he did and chose to ignore it, but whichever way I was grateful.

"So what's up man? We're meeting you in like half an hour. Where's the fire?"

I paused, trying to think of a lie but before I could, words came rushing from my lips.

"I was worried about Bella. Well about Charlie really. I mean-"

"Wait. You know about Charlie?"

I was silent as I realised that Seth knew Bella didn't tell me herself.

"Edward. How do you know about Charlie?"

I groaned before answering. "I googled his name. Came up with an article from a few years back."

Seth growled.

"Fuck. Bella's finished and she's walking over here. I'll talk to you later man."

I snapped my phone shut and walked over to where the rest of the group were standing by the car. We piled in, and I sat in silence, pondering how I could get Bella to open up to me.

BPOV

I finished skating and walked over to see Seth slide my phone shut.

"Who was that?" I asked as I pulled the phone from his hands.

"Who was what?"

I eyed him suspiciously and opened my received calls list.

"What did Edward want?" We're meeting him soon. Why would he call unless something had happened?

"He uh... was just saying that um... we should spend more time together. Male bonding and all that. It's a very important stepping stone in friendship."

I glared at the skater standing in front of me. "Seth!"

"Edwardgoogledcharlie'snameandfoundoutwhathappenedandnowheknows."

It took me a few seconds to decipher what Seth had told me, but when I did my knees folded under me. Seth caught me and steadied me on my feet, and I immediately headed for the car.

"We're leaving. NOW! Move it!"

The guys followed me and soon we were on our way to yet another giant skate park. As our car pulled up, I noticed that Edward was already there, pacing in circles. I threw the door open and ran to him, flinging my arms around his neck.

"Please don't leave me."

He was silent, and I felt tears begin to trickle down my face. I looked up to see him staring at me, a look of slight revulsion playing across his features temporarily that was quickly replaced with one of disbelief.

"Oh god. It's too late. You don't want me. Oh fuck. No. Fuck."

I sank to the ground, still muttering. I was aware of tears running more freely now.

"Bella?"

I looked up to see Edward still staring in disbelief.

"Bella, why would you think that?" he knelt down and pulled me close to him. "I love you Bella. I promise nothing will change that."

His tone was so sincere I was finding it very hard to doubt his words.

"Even though I'm damaged goods?"

He looked at me seriously.

"Bella, you are perfect to me. I love you."

I smiled weakly. "I love you too."

I dried my eyes for what seemed like the thousandth time today and Edward and I walked hand in hand to where our friends had congregated, waiting for us before proceeding.

"Okay, we're all here and ready. Now everyone's gonna meet each other and stuff first, then you guys are all doing your stuff, whether it's skating or music. Let's get to it!"

Alice's excitement was evident in her voice, and her walking pace as she led us to what looked like a large shed.

"C'mon guys, there's a surprise, and I wanna see it now!"

Everyone sped up their pace more for fear of Alice's wrath than excitement for the surprise. We entered in single file, finding ourselves in what could easily be described as a teenage boy's wet-dream. The Viva-La-Bam cast and crew were milling around, along with about 15 pro skaters, members of several different bands, Jake's and Seth's parents, and a slightly awkward looking Angela. Alice danced over to another doorway as everyone turned to look our way. After a few seconds, she darted back in, followed by a massive and elaborately decorated cake.

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!

Happy birthday dear Bella! Happy Birthday to you!"

Edward was leading me toward the cake as everyone sang

"Hip hip! Hooray!"

We were just a few steps away

"Hip hip! Hooray!"

We reached the table the cake was placed on

"Hip hip hooray!"

I tried to blow out all the candles, but apparently in Alice land, 18th birthday cakes require at least 1000 candles. Okay, slight exaggeration, but you get the point.

"Didn't get them all in one! You have to kiss the closest boy!"

I giggled at the childhood rule Alice thought I needed to remember and turned to Edward.

"With pleasure."

***

The party wore on, and I chatted to as many people as I could, helped Bam start a food fight, and lost several games of paper scissors rock. There was skating, alcohol and good food to be had, and a DJ in the corner.

After a few hours Alice sought me out and dragged me to a table I hadn't noticed before, laden with gifts.

"Sit. Open. Enjoy"

I laughed and pulled the first gift toward me.

***

The party broke up at around 10, and we took separate cars back to the hotel. I leant against Edward as we travelled.

"I know your birthday's not for 4 days, but we've got a show that day, and Alice wanted you to have an awesome party."

I nodded. "It's okay."

We reached our destination quickly, and walked straight to the lifts, not stopping to acknowledge the few paparazzi around. As the doors closed, I pulled Edwards face closer to mine to capture his lips. The kiss was full of passion, and as the doors opened on our floor, we stumbled out, still locked together. I fumbled blindly with the swipe card at our door, but my hands must've known what they were doing as the door opened easily. We made our way to the bedroom, where we fell together onto the mattress. By this time I'd unbuttoned his shirt, and I was forced to pull my lips away from his as I reached to pull my own off. I began to tug the shirt upwards, but Edward's hands stopped me.

"Edwar-"

"Bella. We have to talk."

I froze for a second, before pulling away and standing up again. Edward sat up and watched me carefully.

"Bella. What happened?"

I said nothing, but started again to pull off my shirt. Edward's hands covered mine again, pleading in his eyes.

I stepped back, and his hands fell away.

"I'm trying to answer your question."

* * *

**To those of you who review, thankyou so much! You are awesome. **

**I'm sorry updates have been few and far between, but I'm in my final year of high school, and the work load's pretty heavy. I really am trying to get these chapters out faster. If you feel they're getting too drawn out let me know.**

**Until next time,**

**Shellii  
**


	15. Broken

**I don't own Twilight.**

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EPOV

I watched as she tugged her tee shirt over her head, exposing the marred skin beneath. Her fingers traced along a long scar just beneath her ribs.

"We used to be so normal. We all loved each other, and we were all so happy. I don't know why it happened, but one day, everything just changed. This is from the day I got home late from school. Charlie threw me into the glass topped table that once decorated our living room. When Renee suggested I'd need stitches, he threw the sewing box at her."

She started to turn, pointing out small circular scars as she did. "Renee burnt dinner, so he burnt me. His beer wasn't cold enough, so he burnt me. I changed the channel on the TV. My room wasn't clean enough. I was being too loud"

Bella's voice had cracked as she'd spoken, and I realised she'd been softly crying as she told me all of this. I stood up and wrapped my arms around her, and she sobbed into my chest.

"One day, he knocked Renee out, and I ran to the police. They locked him up, and everything was supposed to be okay. And it was for a while. My 10th birthday passed, but I had no friends to spend it with. Renee started talking to Seth's mum Sue, and then Billy and Charlie, but I didn't really talk to anyone. At school I kept my head down, and sat alone at break times. By the time I turned 11 Renee and the psychiatrist she insisted I see had both decided I needed friends. They tried to get me to join a sporting team, you know, to meet people, but I kept making excuses not to, until I found skating. I watched a demo down at a beach skate park, and after a quick lesson from a pro, started to teach myself. I started making friends just in time for Renee to find out she had cancer. It was inoperable. She died, and I was sent to live with Billy and Jake. It probably would've made more sense for me to be with Sue and Harry, so that I'd have a mother figure or whatever, but I liked being with Jake. High school was normal. My psych taught me to block out Charlie, and I was pretty happy. And now I have you."

I held her even tighter. "You'll always have me. Forever."

Bella stretched up to capture my lips with her own. Her hands tangled in my hair and pulled me closer, deepening the kiss. Before I knew what was happening, her hands moved to my belt buckle and unclasped it.

"Bella-"

"Edward please."

Her eyes were pleading, and still glistening from her tears.

"Please" she repeated

And that was the end of my restraint. I lifted her up and laid her down on the bed, placing kisses on the scars across her torso.

"I swear I'll never let you get hurt again."

***

I woke to find Bella in my arms, still sleeping, and I backtracked over last night's events. I gently pulled away from her and walked towards the bathroom. Turning on the shower, I thought carefully about what Bella had told me... Shown me. She'd been through more than any other person I'd ever met- had more reason than anyone to hate the world and everyone in it- yet she was still beautiful, kind, and for the most part happy. In the last few days, I'd found out how much her happiness meant to me. When I saw her crying last night, I was filled with an unexplainable emotion, which I know recognise as fury. Even now, I had to stop myself leaving the room to find Charlie and give him a good taste of his own medicine. God knows he deserved to die for what he did to Bella, what he still is doing to her. I let my mind wander to imagining what'd happen if I ever saw that man again.

BPOV

Someone was playing piano. Claire De Lune. It was so nice. I frowned, it was getting louder. It shouldn't get louder. I'm trying to sleep, they should keep it down. But it kept getting louder. I pried my eyes open and, spying Edward's cell on the bedside table as the source of noise, reached over to silence it, noticing that a message from Alice was the reason I was awake. I wondered where Edward was for a second, before I heard the sound of the shower running. Wrapping a sheet around myself I walked to the bathroom door and knocked, opening the door a crack so I could call out to him

"Edward. You got a text from Alice. It's probably not important but yeah."

Edward was silent for a bit, and I started to close the door

"Well aren't you gonna read it Bells? And after that I'm pretty sure you should get in here. We have to leave for the show in an hour, and I'm guessing you want a shower"

I could hear a tone of cheekiness in his voice and I smiled, opening the message from Alice.

"She says..."

I stared at the small screen. Why would she say that? I walked quickly to the TV, tossing Edward's cell to the bed. I pressed the power button and flicked to a news channel, assuming that whatever it was would be on there. I was right.

"...was jailed eight years ago for the abuse of his late wife and aspiring star Bella Swan. Charles Swan spent years in prison, and believes he's learned his lesson. He contacted our station, asking for us to help him on his quest to be re-united with his daughter, and this reporter has to say that I've never seen a man as broken as Mr Charlie Swan."

It appeared I'd turned the TV on just in time to see an interview with Charlie. I could feel tears running down my face as I listened to him talking to the reporter.

"Bella"

I turned to see Edward standing by the bed holding his cell.

"How long've you been standing there?" I asked, hating the way my voice cracked.

"I came out as soon as you didn't answer me."

I noticed then that although he had a towel wrapped around his hips, he was dripping on the carpet. "Bella, do you want to talk?"

I shook my head. "Later"

I flicked the TV off and walked past Edward into the bathroom. I washed quickly and threw on a pair of skinny jeans and one of the new shirts one of my sponsors had sent. I remembered being incredibly excited three days ago when I found out I'd be able to wear one of my favourite artists on my chest, but right now I couldn't care less. Charlie's words to the reporter were swirling around in my head.

_I miss my little girl so much... I always knew she was destined to be a star... If only I could go back and... know it's unforgiveable but... another chance... just want my bellsy back..._

I shook my head to rid it of those thoughts and wiped away the few tears that had escaped. I bit back a laugh at myself. All I ever seemed to do these days was cry. I pulled my damp hair into a ponytail and walked into the kitchen where Edward was waiting.

"C'mon, let's get going. Don't wanna be late."

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**Okay, sorry about the wait, high-school's a bitch. I have two weeks of exams starting tomorrow, but then it's two weeks of holidays, so I should be able to get two or three chapters out then. I noticed a few people wanted to read the article Edward read. I had no intention of ever putting it in, as I couldn't think of anyway I could make it flow, but I did mock up what it would have said. If you're interested, it's on my livejournal- link on my profile. Oh, and the shirt that Bella talks about is part of Alex Pardee's new range with Hurley. I cant find them on the net yet, I saw them in a local skateshop, but when I do, I'll add a link to them on my profile. For those of you familiar with Pardee's work, you'll not be dissapointed. For those who arent, link to his blog on my profile. Oh, and WOW. So many reviews! You guys are amazing!**

**Shelli (:  
**


	16. Secrets Don't Make Friends

The car ride to the festival ground was quiet, the awkward tinge of unanswered questions made the air seem stale. Technically, Bella had answered all of my questions, going so far as to show him the physical evidence behind her story, but her obvious efforts to distance herself from me this morning made me worry she regretted the decision. Apon leaving the hotel room, Bella had quickly caught up to Jake and Seth, who were a little way along the hallway, and stayed in conversation with them until the moment we both got into the car. Although she flashed me what I assume was supposed to be a reassuring smile, it didn't seem to reach her eyes, and she promptly cranked up the music. I almost believed her when she called over the music how much she loved the song. Except I'd seen her mute the music channel every time this particular song came on in the past. As tempting as it was to dull the sound and question her more, something told me I should let her come to me.

The first half of the day passed without incident. Alice had made sure that every security guard on the festival grounds was aware that Charlie was not welcome, going so far as to make each of them memorize a photograph of him. That aspect was something that she could control, but unfortunately, the media were not. Everyone worked to try and make sure Bella could avoid any interviews, but by lunchtime, their luck had run out. A local tabloid writer cornered Bella, and before she could object, they were off to a private tent to have a chat. I could only watch helplessly from the stage as the tent flap closed behind the two of them, and I started to wonder if my love was really enough, to protect her from the world.

**I'm back! (kinda). I got an email from one of you guys today, and it made me regret that I've never finished this! So, this.. Well it's a start. Let me know what you think! If you think I've lost my touch, then I'll step down, rather than ruin it. But If you're eager to see more, let me know! **


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